Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Two weeks ago, when I was reviewing "Annette Castellano is a Nemesis," I was fearful because out of every fan I knew who had seen the episode, I was in the minority. I had the audacity to really, (really) dislike an episode. (I still don’t like that episode.) One week ago, when I was reviewing "Crimes and Misdemeanors," I realized that I was watching the show wrong. I was watching it like I wanted it to be season two again. So I decided to change my perspective and focus instead on comedy over characters.

With that new perspective, I write again fearfully. Because on my rewatch of "I Slipped," I realized that I liked it. I liked it certainly more than the livid majority. This is because—and I have mentioned this infinity times, with an always-inevitable backlash—I don’t watch the show, or analyze the show, with politics in mind. And yes, that includes consent, especially when it comes to "fifth base." I don’t fault people for watching the show this way; I encourage that they do, because they add so many important things to the conversation. But if you are looking for that discussion in this review, you will not find it.

Instead you will find me working through some (very) questionable character actions to try to form a coherent message out of "I Slipped." I think there is a coherent message—bear with me as I try to find it.

Here’s the sequence of events: Danny is a great, thoughtful, considerate boyfriend. While having sex with Mindy, he attempts (on my third viewing, the dialogue in the episode doesn’t indicate success) to have anal sex with her; she asks him what he is doing and he says he "slipped." Mindy is indignant and angry, thinking he did it on purpose. He denies it. She talks to Peter, who tells her that he definitely did. She calls Danny’s bluff after a trip to the eye doctor’s. Danny says that he only did it because he assumed she’d tried it before (later he says this is a lie—I mention now so you can keep track). So she asks Peter for Booty Camp, with a curve, and then, resigned, gets the sedatives to have anal sex with Danny. She tries to appease Danny in every respect, which makes him confused and uncomfortable—she doesn’t like these things, and he doesn’t want her to do things she doesn’t want to do. However, as he tries to comfort her, he takes it too far (comparing her to an orthopedic shoe) which re-convinces her to take the sedative. Danny is concerned about how strange she is acting to the point when she ultimately faints.

She goes to the hospital and Danny is angry and upset (“What?! Why did you do that?!”) and confused (“What’s going on here? What happened?”). Then they start to have a real conversation: “Mindy, why do you think you’re not sexually advanced enough for me?” “Because you called me an old shoe.” That’s when Danny says, “Okay, that’s it. No more lies. You want the real truth about the other night?… Didn’t mean anything. And I don’t want you to be anything. I just tried something. All right? That’s it. … Sometimes a guy just has to try something.” Afterwards, Danny and Mindy communicate with each other about their equal sexual inexperience. “So, we good?” Danny asks. “Yeah, just if you want to try something freaky, just run it by me first.” The arc ends with Mindy and Danny having their first freaky sexual encounter—where Mindy bites and continues to bite Danny, even when he tells her to stop.

What’s the point of me writing all that out? Simply to get to the point of the episode, which is communication and is evidenced in both the A plot and the B plot. Mindy and Danny don’t communicate well in this episode—Danny should have been honest with Mindy from the beginning and should have been honest with her at every step. Likewise with Mindy. They both—oh, what’s the phrase?—slipped up. As Danny failed to tell Mindy how he was really feeling, she got the wrong impression, and visa versa. The end indicates that they have a ways to go, both of them, and that they are still imperfect, but that they’re at least moving forward.

The other point of writing all of that out was to get you to notice what things I chose to omit—the rant on America, the too-long discussion of Mindy’s shoe-ness or the idea that Mindy and Danny lack fireworks, the “asking sucks” closer of the scene.

The reason I chose to omit those is because they are faults that inhibit a viewer from seeing what message the writers truly intended. They are tacked on or extended bits of dialogue by Mindy and Danny—mostly Danny—that can entirely ruin the focus or mood of a scene. When Danny said in the hospital: “I don’t want you to be anything,” I loved it—and then he kept talking about America and how sometimes you stumble on a jackpot.

That’s a fault of The Mindy Project writers this year—in the pursuit of the joke, sometimes they go too far. They allow themselves to indulge in joke digressions that don’t suit the theme of the scene. In this episode, the effects of doing so were most noticeable because these particular scenes were actually big scenes, especially considering the episode's sensitive material to begin with. Thatt’s why I’m not surprised people are offended by "I Slipped": because it didn’t make a clear enough statement (in the pursuit of a joke), its message was very hard to reach.

Notice another omission in my summary? What I think was one of the worst parts of this episode was that the “I love you” pursuit was made insignificant. I felt mocked, even—I wanted so badly for there to be a context, for Mindy’s hesitation to be the grand indicator in why she wouldn’t say those words, but the first time she says them to him, it’s over a nose hair trimmer. As I mentioned in my previous review, I watch the show now with lower expectations in regards to character development. There is no timeline for The Mindy Project, so there’s no way to accurately chart the progression of a relationship. Danny and Mindy are seven (or is it five?) months into their relationship and comfortably saying “I love you” to each other, but as an audience, we haven’t seen enough of their relationship yet to be entirely convinced of those words. (It’s the same way I felt about the HIMYM finale—but I had a lot of other feelings about the HIMYM finale too, trust me).

Those lower expectations in regards to the show mean that I’m not looking for an arc anymore to span and anchor the season, or for any deepening of feelings. Mindy and Danny are In A Relationship, and their pasts, with the exception of the fire escape scene, are rarely significant to the actions of the show. In A Relationship Mindy and Danny is good in many ways—it’s not like the writers are running out of things to talk about, and it’s not like the pairing is stagnant or dull, no matter what Danny says. It’s that there are so many other opportunities to have these characters grow, or to have their feelings deepen to an eventual proposal, that to not take those opportunities is a shame. It feels like a different show—a show with our characters, but without their rich backstory, where Mindy calls Danny “babe” unironically or tells him she loves him over nail trimmers. That’s where we are. It’s not bad, but it’s not a "Santa Fe" hand-hold.

Charlie Grandy wrote this episode, and he’s gotten a lot of flack—both from me and from other people who know he can do better (he penned "Danny Castellano is My Personal Trainer" and "Think Like a Peter," both really funny episodes). But even with this episode, he is still my favorite writer, and the strengths of this episode come from Grandy’s strength as a writer, particularly in how well he writes the workplace dynamic.For the first time ever, I cared more about the B-plot than the A-plot. I am a huge fan of the Lauren-Peter-Jeremy love triangle; it gives everyone something interesting to do, builds some sympathy and objective for Peter (be less of a slimeball), and makes Jeremy relevant.

Speaking of Jeremy, he is the MVP of the episode, without question. I am actually #TeamJeremy: his banjo playing to “The Sounds of Silence” and his pity-looks as Peter and Tamra exchange stories of being modelesque were awesome, but he won my heart when he told Peter he was done apologizing because he didn’t "steal" Lauren—she chose to leave Peter because his life is a mess and Jeremy’s isn’t. That burn (ha! ha!) hopefully will stick into next week. Peter is immature, and while he’s lovable, he’s kind of a dirtbag. Hopefully Jeremy, ahem, set off a spark inside Peter (ha! ha!) to better himself. That’s the best arc The Mindy Project has pulled off all season. Morgan was also great as the link between the A- and B-plots. I loved that he was given a real reason to be (his graduation) instead of the "I like to snoop" reason that is so often accepted and so constantly unoriginal. The added mini-C-plot—that nobody went to Morgan’s graduation and that in the course of the episode everyone acknowledges the accomplishment—was actually pretty smart storytelling. It also serviced the A- and B- plots well; Morgan, being a NP, can give Mindy drugs, and Peter and Jeremy set aside their differences post-Parent Trap to give Morgan a gift of congratulations. Good job, show.

So what are my feelings about the episode? I liked it. I loved the B-plot and thought the A-plot was at least well-paced, albeit misguided at times. The Mindy Project is consistently inconsistent: all it needs is some clearer communication to get there.

Extra points:

Mindy’s outfits were beautiful this episode. Stunner.

So Mindy tells Peter their intimate details? Is that still okay?

I'm getting a little tired of the Danny-God jokes. Stop going to that well, show. You spent half of the first season without it. Add to his character more!

Also tired of trying to understand Mindy’s political knowledge. You don’t know Hillary but you know Benghazi and church politics?

Also don’t understand her medical knowledge. PILLS AND ALCOHOL? ARE YOU INSANE?

I didn’t have a good place to mention, but I loved the hospital scene with everybody. So much great group chemistry.

"You’re just two basics having a bitch fest" is a line that couldn’t have existed in any other year other than 2014. God bless.

"Do you have the gift receipt?" Morgan is runner-up for MVP in the episode.

"Exclaim exclaim exclaim."

The apple pie proposal also was another way to rub my face in the failed #teamproposal2014. Wouldn’t it have been great if I had been right?

"Come Get it Bae" by Pharrell was in this episode. And I love this song so much, so stop, collaborate and listen!

In short: 3x01 was the most romantic and story-consistent, 3x02 was a huge dud, 3x03 was the funniest, and 3x04 had the best B-plot and great group dynamics. (With that said, I’m waiting on my Mindy/Jeremy and Tamra/Danny episode!)

23 comments:

I don't think you're in the minority. Just about every recap and article I've seen about this episode, including no less than Jezebel, liked it. There just seems to be one really vocal Tumblr poster who loathed the episode and is now only posting asks that agree with her. I'm sorry, but everyone isn't walking around with a rulebook all the time. Danny did not do anything remotely approaching rape, and he backed off the second she said no and was very apologetic. I actually thought the episode had a GREAT message about consent and boundaries. The mere fact of a character doing something stupid (and that's what it was -- stupid, not evil) does not mean the writers are advocating said conduct. But, in this case, the thorough talking about it made up for anything anyway.

I think it's really confusing and a really sensitive issue. That's why when I write I try my hardest not to touch on anything remotely political in that sense--it's not a topic I often feel comfortable addressing because it is not hard to upset people while talking about it. Hopefully I did a good job making my review more about the characters and less about that fallout.

That being said, I think I cover my thoughts to your response in my review pretty well--that it wasn't as bad (to me) as it was to some people, but that the furtherance of a joke (in the cases I mentioned) impeded viewers from seeing that it wasn't that bad. Danny was, compared to the last episode, surprisingly lucid in how he handled Mindy--he was always asking how he was and expressing concern whenever she seemed to be doing something just to appease him. I appreciate seeing that side of the character, and I wish that he'd been allowed to say "I don't want you to be anything" without the tacked on America part. If that makes sense.

So yes-- I agree with you. I do understand why people would be mad--the message could have been clearer if they were going to approach this topic--but, to me, it wasn't as controversial as it at first glance appears. (Is this message cogent? I'm feeling kinda scatterbrained right now. My bad.)

Ok I'm so glad I saw this bc I also felt like the minority. It's awesome ppl are showing concern and watching shows critically, specially when it deals with consent. However watching last night's episode I found it to be one of the funniest so far this season and very truthful (Peter's"No you won't" response to Mindy's thought that maybe she'll like it had me legit LMAO). In relationships(even good ones) communication and expressing sexual desires isn't always the easiest thing. Ppl were criticizing Mindy and the sedatives storyline before we even saw the episode and although I don't agree with her or anyone doing that, it doesn't make a woman any less of a feminist bc she tries to do something to please the person she's with. It doesnt make Mindy a weak character for wanting to go that far, a lot of ppl feel insecure in relationships and I think that's a message that was definitely conveyed by the end of the episode. Similarly Danny's "Asking sucks" to me is not some misogynist abuser proclamation. He's pointing out that asking for things you want in relationships can be awkward. Just bc you love the person doesn't mean you're not afraid of being judged or of their reaction. And he is pointing out that it did kill that particular moment. In other words he means what he actually said. He didn't say "asking sucks...I'm just gonna force myself on you next time.."just that the spontaneity of that moment was ruined.

"That’s a fault of The Mindy Project writers this year—in the pursuit of the joke, sometimes they go too far." I feel like I could write a book on your review of the show (it was great by the way!), but your point about knowing when to stop is what I will address because I 100% agree. When I was watching that scene with Danny and Mindy in the hospital and he said that he didn't want her to be anyone else, I was loving it. And then Danny continued.... Season 2, this conversation wouldn't have devolved into an attempt for a joke, but would have continued romantically and allowed forward movement for their relationship. You are also right that the message wouldn't have been lost had they stayed on point.

I wish Kaling wrote more of the episodes because 3x01 was the only episode that seemed mostly character consistent. I love this show but hope they can still manage to build towards something this season (#team proposal too!). I also adore Messina but actually find that he has not seemed as comfortable acting as Danny this season and I believe it's because of the inconsistent material he has been given, which is a shame. I only critique because I care. Thank you for caring and for writing! :)

100% agree! Chris really shines in the romantic and comedic scenes with Mindy but hasn't been nearly as compelling this season. His performance seems off and the writing is occasionally erratic. I agree that many potentially great moments devolve into a sloppy and desperate angle at a throwaway joke.

Chris's acting reminds me of Indian BBW and The Other Dr. L, which also shows him discussing sex in a similar, strange way. (Like the cold open of BBW always seemed weird to me, but I justified it as, "Danny's just insecure Mindy won't be as sexual with him as she is with others") I think he prefers the silences and I think there was the opportunity for silences in the script that the writers chose not to take--and I do think the pursuing of a joke over character development makes him uncomfortable, being a New York method actor or whatever over a sitcom comedian. (I hate that TMP is going for the joke this year--I always felt they didn't do that when it mattered, which is why I loved The Desert fight so well and Be Cool's breakup--and I agree 3x01's fire escape scene was the only real shining of character consistency)

That all said, Chris did do a pretty good job in parts this episode. I love the way he says, in response to Mindy drinking scotch, being highly sexual, and listening to 'the blues,' "no, you don't" (like those things) or "this isn't you" or something like that. But then they went into the "old shoe" joke, so, eh, whatever.

Completely agree with your review and with Jessica S. Don't have a lot more to add. While initially not a fan of the premise, I really liked the episode when I watched it. Most reviews and comments out there are also positive.

I guess, being a frequenter of Twitter and Tumblr, I've been getting most of the negative without the positive. The first time I watched it I thought it was silly, but the second time I thought it was actually quite good. Not as deep an episode as I know Mindy can do, but with some serious discussion that the other episodes didn't really have (C&M&E had what I felt was a tacked on resolution--this one had to happen, given that Mindy was admitted into the hospital).

I think my major gripe is Charlie taking a steaming dump on some established character development. I'm not as outraged about the sexual theme. It was absurd but clearly not meant to be seen as violating. I'm just grieving the loss of my romantic show. They are still pulling out some comedy gems but the romantic charm is borderline gone. They occasionally reference what sounds like a very healthy sex life only for Danny to report that it's boring. I'm sorry but that is such a romance killer given that I think we all expected them to be very sexually compatible. I thought it was going to be some out-of-control happiness in that area for them. I'm worrying that the most we can hope for is Danny's mom coming back which is so the opposite of sexy :)

I didn't get that he thought it was boring. His statement that being with her was "enough," to me implied just that, that just being with her was enough excitement for him. This was, after all, the guy who got hauled to a sex therapist by an ex because he was too boring in the bedroom. Of course, I'm sure he didn't share that with Mindy, but still, I felt the point was that her fears were unfounded.

Me too, anon, me too. And the issue that I have is, they had so many pieces in play to make this coupledom as romantic as the courtship, if they could only remember the history of this couple!!! I mean, can you imagine that the same Danny that kissed Mindy on the back of a plane and said "One...two...three...four?" is the same guy that tried to justify attempted anal by saying "that's what you do in America"? Comedy in place of romance. (And no, I don't like their sexual incompatibility either. I miss Danny with stars in his eyes for how much he likes Mindy--this Danny doesn't have that)

Can I recommend to you You're the Worst and Selfie? They're both romantic and reasonably contained. Selfie has a tone very similar to Mindy--slightly ditzy but completely competent woman, curmudgeonly and lonely man, chemistry--with a little visual flair to keep it interesting. You're the Worst is more realistic, and I love it--it jsut finished its first season and had a really great romantic arc while still being funny.

I think you're right, but I also think in the process of making a joke the writers are making it appear that way. Like when Danny says "eh" in response to Mindy's being good with her mouth. The "enough" stuff also got into that territory when he said "We don't need that stuff. We don't need to have, for lack of a better term, fireworks." (I do think he said this in a misguided attempt to make her feel better, but STILL--taking a joke too far at the expense of character plausibility)

Funnily enough, I actually thought last night's Selfie was an entire episode about a man telling a woman not to act like a slut. I'm not saying he wasn't right, and I'm not saying that this isn't a message some women need to hear (for their own good, if they ever want to be more than a booty call). But I think it would have been way better if that message had come from another female -- and if the show was held to the same standard and put under the same microscope Mindy was, people would be OUTRAGED. There have been many times when Danny could have pointed to Mindy's sexual past and made some kind of pointed comment (such as in Indian BBW) and didn't. Even in the Pilot, he commented on both Mindy and Jeremy misbehaving, not holding her to a different standard because she was a woman. This show has always been careful that way, and I liked that Danny very much does NOT judge Mindy, where many men might.

What's interesting is that I don't think Mindy Kaling would want us to see them as incompatible. I think they try to sneak the romance in where we don't expect it which makes them seem wishy washy. Bottom line is that the writers are not all on the same page. They want us to forget all the unflattering moments when they randomly decide to be a romantic comedy again. I don't know about Selfie... that girl seems super annoying with the hair and ginormous sunglasses ;)

I just love your reviews, whether I agree or disagree. I'm glad you pointed out the improved B-plot and better use of the supporting characters. I think it was Jeremy's best episode in a long time. Morgan's scenes were great too - I like the 'big-hearted' side of him, especially in how he relates to Mindy and the other doctors.

I loved that they had the guts to 'go there' with regards to the topic of anal sex. I wasn't as offended as some others by the 'slipped' thing, because I can relate. Not specifically in terms of the subject matter, but b/c my wonderful husband and I do not communicate well when it comes to sex - even after 13 years of a very happy marriage. So I found that part extremely believable...and I might actually be inspired to try to talk more openly with my hubby b/c of it.

I also found the drugs-and-alcohol thing to be believable. Doctors aren't perfect, and certainly not these ones. After all, Mindy needed Morgan to grind up her birth control pill and put it in her coffee. She was willing to take a risk for Danny, but she was hella nervous, and so she did it. I think they did manage to cover the consent issue within the parameters of an established relationship, although I think that the glibness of the "it sucks to ask" undermined that somewhat.

All that being said, the episode left me a bit unsatisfied. I was so disappointed with the "I love you". I almost felt like it was done deliberately to go off-course from rom-com fans' expectations. I think you're right that we need to try to approach the show differently. For that matter, Kaling herself said they were going for the Lucy-Ricky dynamic. I think this team of writers is talented enough to make The Mindy Project a great watch without the will-they or won't they trope. But I'd hate to lose the warmth/character development. I thought they did that well in the first two episodes, but less so in the last two (I think we have differing opinions on Eps 2 and 3, to some extent).

Thank you for being so sweet. The #1 compliment you can give a writer is on her writing. #2 on her looks, especially if you say her nose is not big. (Or maybe that's just me???)

I agree with most everything that you say, honestly -- that Jeremy is underutilized for how great a comedic actor Ed Weeks is, that Ike was used surprisingly well this episode (and in a great way with the others), the laudable nerve of the writers to 'go there,' the ups and downs of the consent issue being addressed, and the dissatisfaction of the "I love you." And 100% agree with "the team of writers is talented enough to make TMP a great watch without the will-they or won't-they trope, but I'd hate to lose the warmth/character development."

(I think 3x02 did more character-wise than 3x03, but I also just think it was badly written and stilted--poor pacing, but definitely a better step for characters than Crimes & Misdemeanors, which was mostly just very funny).

I also disagree on excusing Mindy being an imperfect doctor. She went to Princeton, and I don't, and even I know the danger in mixing sedatives and alcohol. As someone who is presented as a competent doctor, I wish they would have just made her have the drugs.

I very much agree with your sentiments re. this episode and also regarding episodes two and three. I know Ann didn't like episode two, but that felt more like Mindy and Danny to me (and the overall balanced tone of the show actually); it also had more warmth to me, along with meatier stuff for Messina with regards to his mother.

I will also admit that this episode was the first time one of the kisses between Danny and Mindy felt forced/a bit awkward for me. I think it may have been the first one with the apple pie, but I'll have to rewatch to check. I felt their strong sexual chemistry in episodes 1 and 2, but less so in 3 and 4.

I think I am just waiting for the show to dazzle me with a really great and in-character story arc, something touching, surprising maybe? But in definite need of some more romance and Messina "heart eyes." :) All this said, I do appreciate that Mindy and Danny are totally together and still enjoyable and lovable!

Ann, please note that I did begin my response that referenced you before I saw yours! I agree with most everything you say about the show and appreciate/enjoy your reviews and commentary. :) So thanks!

Very good analysis. I'm pretty sure these 15 will be the last for The Mindy Project so I'm very let down by the lack of romantic development when there's not much time left. I almost wish that their goal was to make me less interested in them as a couple because that's what happened. I don't really care and get more enjoyment from the comedy now. I think that they might be trying too hard to separate Mindy and Danny from the stereotypes of protagonist coupling. They've taken it to the extreme opposite end. I'm just not excited about their future.... like at all.

For one, I love your tumblr and that's part of the reason I was excited to respond. I really enjoy reading your take on the show.

I loved your points about the communication, because they helped me to see this episode a little differently. I was like many people in finding it immensely disappointing. It's not because the material offends me or that I think Danny was pushing Mindy; that's not my problem.

The problem with this episode is the same as my whole love/hate relationship with this season. I LOVE seeing Mindy and Danny as a couple. I love the comedy aspect of it; it does always manage to make me laugh! I'm disappointed in Danny this season in general. In seasons one and two, one of the things I've always loved about Danny is his soft spot when it came to Mindy, which was otherwise near impossible to see. He was this grumpy old man character, but something in him cared about Mindy, and in the most subtle of ways. In so many episodes, he has been the FIRST one on line to check up on her - when Beverly punched her, he was the first in the room, when Josh cheated on her, he abandoned his own plans to stay with her, when she was chickening out with Casey, he walked to the fire escape...the list is endless. I don't see that soft spot anymore. Some may say that that's because their relationship has evolved now that they're a couple. That's understandable; I don't expect the same level of outright pursuit anymore. But there have been so many opportunities for him to show that softness - to say something in Mindy's defense, maybe, when Cliff basically said a ton of men have been on top of her, or that Mindy was a horrible person, or when his mother said she didn't like her. He defended her more in Weiner Night to a bunch of strangers when they WEREN'T dating than he does now.

While I like that he told her he doesn't expect her to be anything, and that's the closest to that softness I've seen, it makes me feel almost disappointed that that's it. Instead of just saying that he doesn't expect her to be anything and stopping there, it may have been nice if he reminded her something that he particularly LIKES about her. We know he loves Mindy, but we don't know why; if we had the slightest insight into what it is he loves so much about her, or that he cared about her enough to speak up for her when people are putting her down, then I'd find his declarations of love in season 2 to be more believable. Even the simple sort of, "You're great" that we got from the end of Sexting - it didn't have to be poetry.

I don't think a few sweet lines are asking too much, especially considering the abundance of insults thrown Mindy's way this season. If one more person (particularly DANNY) makes a point of talking about how she's not skinny, doesn't exercise, has a big ass, or anything else that ridicules her not-so-rail-thin-but-not-obese stature, I think I'll throw something at the TV. Danny can make some variation of a weight dig every episode, but he can't throw out any terms of endearment beyond "I don't want you to be anything"? That's a bit of a let down.

OMG, preech it :) I can't believe how deliberately with holding Danny is this season. "I don't want you to be anything" has GOT to be the worst sentiment he could have had in an episode like this. It literally doesn't have a meaning. He owed Mindy much more than that. The episode ended with him still heavily implying that he remains sexually bored by his gorgeous gf. I'm also so sick of the fat jokes. mindy is perfect.

TMP is capable of having 1 minute without jokes. EX: break-up scene, Danny's first I love you, fireplace scene, etc. It's true what Ann says that it seems like it's all in pursuit of the joke and not about anything else. For instance, Danny using "America was building on trying things" to prove his argument was odd because it just seemed like running circles around the issue without finally getting to the point. Was the "weed" joke worth it? eh...